19-year-old Indian girl unveils bulletproof prototype with GPS alert

While anti-rape clothing isn’t a completely novel idea, a teenage girl from India claims to have developed a “rape-proof” underwear that sends out messages to a pre-stored contact list in case of an emergency. Seenu Kumari, a 19-year-old girl from the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, has designed the prototype and it includes features such as a combination lock, a GPS alert system, and a video camera to keep a record of the attacker. In addition, the anti-rape underwear, in the shade of pink, is made of a type of fabric that is both knife and bulletproof, as reported by news outlets.

As of now, a prototype for this lingerie-type garment has been sent to the National Innovation Foundation in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, for patenting as Seenu hopes to make her innovation available to a wider market in the near future.

Explaining the specialised features of her creation, the Bachelor of Science student said, “I have put a smart lock that won’t open till you key in the password. I have also installed an electronic device that is equipped with a GPS and calling facility.”

“When somebody tries to molest a woman, this device will send out messages to relatives of the woman and also to the police,” the teenager was quoted as saying by the Mail Online. “The cop would be able to arrive at the crime scene following the GPS and foil the rape attempt.”

However, adding on the utility of her innovative underwear, Seenu explained to news outlets how women don’t need to wear the garment at all times. “She can wear it when she is travelling alone or if she finds a place unsafe,” added the creator of the latest anti-rape undergarment.

At the moment, the so-called rape-proof undergarment, which was designed within a £60 budget, is not available for mass use. “If we use a better quality of clothes and equipment, it will be ready to be used and sold in the market,” she said.

Back in 2013, a New York-based duo had also come up with a similar idea of rape-resistant pants, underwear and shorts to make women feel safer in potentially dangerous situations.

“A clothing line offering wearable protection for when things go wrong,” read AR Wear’s tagline, a crowdfunding initiative that was started by two women called Ruth and Yuval. However, following a subsequent backlash over the controversial product, the creators stated that their product does not encourage a “blame the victim” mentality.

“Rape is about as wrong as it gets. The only one responsible for a rape is the rapist and AR Wear will not solve the fundamental problem that rape exists in our world. Only by raising awareness and education, as well as bringing rapists to justice, can we all hope to eventually accomplish the goal of eliminating rape as a threat to both women and men,” they wrote.

“Meanwhile, as long as sexual predators continue to populate our world, AR Wear would like to provide products to women and girls that will offer better protection against some attempted rapes while the work of changing society’s rape culture moves forward,” the duo added.